Infinity Times Infinity

“Did you hear?”

You lazily placed a spoon of cereal in your mouth. “Hear what?”

“Apparently Sirius Black broke into the Gryffindor dormitories!” Solaris whispered excitedly as she took a seat beside you. “The younger Weasley keeps talking about it, how Black was hovering over him with a knife.” 

“Last I heard he was wielding a hook as his hand.”

Solaris gave Adrian a weird look but he simply wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Anyway, I heard from some Gryffindor girls that McGonagall nearly went into a fit when she found out how Black got inside.” 

You muffled a ‘go on’ as you continued eating your cereal. 

“A third-year wrote all the passwords down on a slip of paper. Black somehow got a hold of it and used that.” 

You waited until you swallowed to respond. “Someone wrote down all of their passwords?”

Solaris nodded. 

“I wouldn’t blame them. That new portrait of theirs keeps changing it every few days — hours even.” Your eyes wandered from the professors’ table over to the Gryffindor table. “Potter’s fine?”

“Yeah, he’s over there.” Adrian pointed at the small group of young students. 

Ron was at the center of it, recounting what you could only assume to be the story for the nth time. Harry’s tuft of black hair stood out from the rest of the students. He seemed a bit relieved to have the attention away from him, although now he had to deal with his friend’s new popularity. You turned back to the two Slytherins sitting beside you and continued to lazily eat your breakfast. 

It had been nearly a month since your conversation with your dad. The thought of what had been brought to your attention never left the forefront of your mind. Sure your father was a bit hurt by the actions of a certain Potions Master, but in the end, there was no foul. Neither Neville nor Hermione said anything, nor did they imply anything if they did know. 

In return, you decided not to confront Snape and opted to leave that revelation in the past as asked by your dad. He really wanted you not to say anything and made you promise not to say anything. So far, you’ve kept your word. 

“You think they’ll ever catch him?” She asked. 

Adrian shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s already escaped the dementors and managed to deceive a password-protected portrait.” 

“I hope they cancel our tests.” 

“Oh, c’mon Solaris. We both know we need to take these exams.”

The two of them continued to banter about the little things and you listened in, hoping to melt the stress off of everything for just a morning. 

- - - - - 

The next time you woke up, you realized that it was no longer day. You blearily looked around and saw that you had fallen asleep somewhere in the library. Luckily, Madam Prince hadn’t found you and screamed at you to leave seeing as you were hidden in a little nook between some bookshelves. 

You were alone inside the dark library, tired, yet pumped full of adrenaline from the sudden jolt you had. You peered down to the floor and noticed Ahira slithering above the table on which you had fallen asleep. 

“Ahira?” You said as you rubbed the drool off of your cheek. “What are you doing here?”

The snake watched you carefully as you slowly woke up. “You weren’t in your dorm by curfew so I went out looking for you — are you getting enough sleep?” 

You nodded softly. “Yeah, yeah I am, just dozed off writing this boring essay for Binns’ class.”

But it seemed like your lie wasn’t enough for her. She watched you even more intently and could practically smell the fear off of you. “I thought you said you weren’t getting nightmares anymore.” 

“I’m not,” you lied as you packed your things away. “Not as frequently anyways — this is like the first time in a while.”

Once you had everything packed, you motioned for her to climb up; she wrapped herself around you and eventually rested her head on your shoulder. Carefully, you snuck out of the library and let out a sigh of relief once you were outside the library’s door. You then started your descent to the dungeons, taking a few detours to avoid getting caught by patrolling professors. Somehow, one of your detours made you end up farther away from your destination rather than closer. 

“I told you to take that left back there, see now we’re on the seventh floor,” hissed Ahira.

“Oh will you shut it, I’m too tired for direction — left, right, it’s all the same.”

Ahira swore under her breath and you realized this was probably the first time you ever heard a snake swear. You were so caught up with the fact that you hadn’t realized where you found yourself. The further you walked, the more you heard a faint rhythm. You picked up a heartbeat and a quick-spoken, timid voice. 

“But I don’t know the password! None of my classmates will tell me — please, you know I’m a Gryffindor,” the voice argued, albeit softly. 

As you rounded the corner, you caught sight of dirty blonde hair; it was... what was the boy’s name… Neville? You approached the boy, causing him to notice your presence and nearly freeze in shock. He must’ve seen the green of your robes because he quickly began to plead with you that he hadn’t done anything wrong to you and wished you wouldn’t do anything to him. You raised an eyebrow at his behavior. 

“I’m not going to do anything to you, kid,” you explained, raising your hands up to show him you meant well. You began to assess the situation. “You’re the kid with the lost password list, right?”

Neville gaped at you before warily nodding his head. 

“Heard that you’re not allowed to know the current password — is that true?”

He nodded again, gulping anxiously. He didn’t know what you were planning and he was scared that you’d do something. Of course, he knew you were friends with the twins, but what if you were only nice to the twins? If you were he was most definitely screwed. 

“I don’t know the current password either, but I can help you, c’mon.” You motioned with your chin for him to follow you. When you didn’t hear footsteps behind you, you turned to look at him, still frozen in the same spot. “What’s the matter?”

“How do I know you’re not going to do something to me? You’re a —” he trailed off before he could finish his sentence. 

“A Slytherin? Yeah, I get that a lot. I may be cunning and deceiving, but I’m not evil. I’m not going to let you sleep outside of your own common room so c’mon.”

But still, he refused to move from his spot. 

You looked at him quizzically. He was shaking slightly, but you were unsure if it were because of the wind that swept through the tower or because of fear. He was practically oozing it just from the scent alone — he was afraid. 

“Look kid, I’m not gonna —”

“I know you’re a werewolf.” 

You froze, your eyes widening before steeling over as you studied the Gryffindor. You huffed as an unbelieving smirk grazed your features. You had to play this off as casually as possible.

“That’s a funny joke, Neville.” 

His hand trembled at his side. You could only assume that his wand was there, but he seemed to be at odds with himself. To draw his wand, to not, it didn’t really matter to you – but to him, it did because as he saw it he was standing in front of a werewolf, he was sure of it.  

“It’s not a joke,” he stuttered. “Professor Snape assigned us that essay a month ago and I had to see it for myself… both you and Professor Lupin were absent the last full moon.”

You let him continue his ramble, knowing well that he had to get everything out before you could say anything. 

“Both you and Professor Lupin are always unwell around the full moon. You have crazy strength, too. I’ve seen you play against the other houses. I mean, I’ve always wondered how you could hit a bludger so far…” he rambled for a bit before remembering who he was talking to then promptly shut up. 

Oh, he was going to get killed now — that’s what happened in the movies right? You tell the villain that you know their plan and then they kill you as to not expose them. He watched you expectedly, then backed into the wall. 

You huffed, your shoulders drooping a bit, but besides that, you did nothing to show aggression towards the shaking boy. 

“You’re smart, I’ll give you that.” That was all you said before turning around and walking off towards a staircase. 

“Wait — where are you going?” 

“I’m going to go get my dad. He probably knows the password to your common room so I’m going to ask him for it.” You didn’t really mean to, but you liked teasing people sometimes. “Sit tight, don’t let the crazy maniac bite.”

“W-wait.”

“What? Don’t trust me? — That’s a stupid question, of course not,” you muttered under your breath. “I don’t want to hurt you, Neville. I don’t hurt people.”

“But all that stuff they say about werewolves — about their savageness and how they kill things… even their best friends.”

A flash of nerves ran through you, but you tried not to show him how hurt you were by the statement.  Instead, an idea crossed your mind, it might sound extreme and you weren’t particularly fond of it, but you thought it might win over the timid boy. It was something a Gryffindor might do, but then again how else would you win over a Gryffindor? 

“If you’re worried that I’ll harm you, then let me propose a solution — I won’t harm you,” you said as you procured a silver-looking object and brought it closer to you. The moment it glinted from the moon’s soft light, Neville reacted. 

“That’s silver,” he gasped and extended a hand before retracting it. “You don’t have to. I know silver—”

“—deals heavy damage to us, yes. But I give you permission to use it against me if you fear me attacking you.” 

You brought the necklace closer to your hand, mere inches away from your skin; you feared the younger boy wouldn’t say anything before you had to actually prove yourself. 

“No!” 

You gave him a quizzical look as he studied you for a few seconds, no doubt his thoughts running rampant. He never took his eyes off of you even as he breathed in a shaky breath. 

“I trust that you won’t kill me… you can put the silver away.”

“Thank you,” you sighed as you vanished the object away. 

If only he had looked just a little closer, then he would have noticed how the seemingly silver object vanished in a mist-like motion. The biggest giveaway for fake materials being vanished away. But he was barely a third year, vanishment was a transfiguration lesson Professor McGonagall didn’t teach until fifth year. And luckily for you, you had aced that specific lesson. 

“Now let’s go ask my dad for the password. I’m sure he knows.”

Neville anxiously wrung his hands. “I — I don’t want to bother him, it’s so late at night and —”

“Neville,” you exhaled calmly, “it would bother him more knowing that one of his students got locked out of their own common room than being awoken in the middle of the night. And I assure you, he’s probably not even asleep at the moment.”

The Gryffindor thought on it for a moment, turned to see the sleeping Lady, then looked back at you. There was resignation in his eyes as he realized that there was probably no better solution to his problem and took you up on the offer. You waited until he was by your side once more to begin the trek towards your father’s quarters. 

You walked together, a heavy silence separating the two of you like a barrier until Neville spoke up. 

“Just… just to be clear: Professor Lupin, he’s a werewolf too?” His eyes fell to the floor. “He’s not just absent to take care of you or something of the sort, right? That’s why Professor Snape substitutes for him so often.” 

“At this point, what do you think?” You sighed, resigned at the outcome of tonight’s events. “He’s a good man, Neville. He loves his job… I know it’s a bit hard to accept, but we’re people just like you who want to live normal lives.” 

You glanced over at the boy who was about an arm’s distance away from you. He didn’t seem that shaky like before, but you could tell he was still on guard. You looked away and instead stared out to the starry sky outside. It was one thing you were jealous of the Gryffindors for, their ability to see the stars from so high up — it was peaceful. 

“We just have a few issues, but nothing a few potions can’t sort out — kind of like when someone has a medical illness.” You hummed to yourself before addressing Neville again. “What do you do when you have a stomach ache or don’t feel well?”

Neville donned a pink hue on his cheeks as he scratched them bashfully. “I go to Madam Pomfrey and take a Pepper Up potion.” 

You nodded. “Well, that’s what we do too. Has Professor Snape taught you about the Wolfsbane potion yet?”

He shook his head, so you explained it to him in simple terms: it helped keep the mind intact, but it would not stop the transformation nor cure the lycanthropy. At the new insight of the concoction, Neville looked at the floor, his eyes glued to the tops of his shoes. It was almost as if he himself had lost hope for any aid the potion would have brought. 

“We make sure to take that every month, it keeps our mind intact — we’re no more violent than a sleepy puppy.” 

His shoulders drooped, something you noticed immediately once you finished explaining. Of course, you didn’t have to take the potion, but if it brought the boy some semblance of peace, then you weren’t going to take that away from him by telling him something you weren’t sure of yourself. 

You weren’t expecting anything else out of the boy, but to your surprise, he spoke again. “I promise not to tell anyone.”

You hummed curiously. 

“I understand it a bit more now… I promise I won’t tell anyone. I can’t do that to Professor Lupin… or you.”

A soft smile tugged at your lips. If you were sure the boy wouldn’t faint from your advances, you would have ruffled his hair. 

“Thank you.”

- - - - - 

The walk from the Gryffindor common room to the defense teacher’s quarters was a long one. Especially with the careful sneaking the two of you did as you descended the many floors. At one point, the two of you nearly stumbled upon Peeves but managed to lose him quickly. Once you caught sight of the oak door, you jogged over to it quickly and knocked on it. A few seconds later, the door opened and there stood Remus in casual wear, not quite sleepwear nor his common professor outfit. 

“Y/N? Neville?” He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “What are the two of you doing wandering the corridors out at night?” He then quickly ushered the two of you inside. 

You explained the situation to him, from what Neville had told you to now. Your dad nodded as Neville added on a few other things; it was mostly him stuttering out of embarrassment. 

“So you see, I couldn’t have just left him there,” you said at last, “I was even considering taking him to the Slytherin dorms so he could have a place to sleep —”

“That would’ve placed you in a lot of trouble, dear.”

“I know,” you grinned, unable to hide your teasing. “You know I wouldn’t have done it. Asking you for the password was a much easier solution.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “I know the headmistress can be a bit strict but this is not acceptable. I’ll talk to her about this in the morning,” he said as he shrugged on a cardigan and grabbed his wand from the table. “Come along now, I’ll drop the two of you off to your respective dormitories.” 

You took a quick glance at Neville before remembering what you had to tell him. “Dad…” 

He stopped by the door, his hands still fidgeting with the collar. “Yes?”

You glanced between the two, giving Neville a small smile to reassure him that it was something you had to do. He understood and remained quiet, albeit a bit nervous. 

“We have a little problem. Remember how we discussed that Hermione and Neville might’ve, possibly, probably known about our furry little problem?” 

Remus stopped, dropping his arms to his sides but never taking his eyes off Neville. 

“So, you know about us then.”

You had to hold back a howlish laugh at how scared Neville looked right about now. You couldn’t laugh at him, not outright at least, you had to make sure he felt as comfortable as he could with two werewolves in his presence. 

Neville nodded, arm in a defensive position. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I was scared at first, but I realized that the two of you are people just like me. A-and I really enjoy your classes, Professor. I can’t imagine someone else teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

Your dad smiled, eyes shining tearfully. “Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

The young boy nodded bashfully before following the two of you out. You gave your dad a kind look and waited for him as he locked his door. 

As the three of you began your trek back to the Lady’s portrait, Remus kindly explained to Neville that he could contact him if he were ever to forget the password again the next time it was changed. The boy thanked him abashedly and apologized nonetheless. 

You tried to be lighthearted and offered Neville some help on your end. You understood how visceral the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin tended to be, you tried not to fall into such appearances. Some of the older students, you noticed, weren’t as venomous as the younger years. The substantial stress of exam schedules, extracurriculars, and advanced classes were a few too many affairs to allow for such rivalries. Not saying that it was completely extinguished, there was still a good amount of feuding between houses after all. 

Neville, after the night’s exchange, seemed to be less jumpy around you. He even accepted your proposed olive branch. It was only one act of kindness, but you knew it wouldn’t change much of his take on Slytherin, but it would sure as hell change his view of you and that was more than you could ask for. 

As soon as Neville was safely inside the common room, the two of you began to walk back downstairs. It was peacefully quiet. The natural creaks and chirps of the castle were the only sounds that accompanied the harmonious night breeze of Scotland. 

The usual buzzing of the castle’s magic was tame at this time of night. Only now was the magic surrounding Hogwarts active. It wasn’t quite visible from where the two of you resided, but the forest’s energy was plentiful as it almost gained an ethereal glow from the moonlight. You watched carefully as your dad relaxed into the soft moonlight that poured from the windows. It saddened you how often he feared the moon, how it could make him so vicious and turn him into something he always feared. But now, as the moon slowly shifted into its first quarter, he nearly melted into the moon’s healing light. 

“You know, I worried for you when you were sorted into Slytherin,” he spoke softly. His hooded eyes were almost closed as he let the moonlight fall over him. “From my time here at Hogwarts, Slytherin was a much darker group of students. With the imminent war hanging over our heads and the dark nature Slytherins always seemed to be attracted to, I wasn’t the biggest fan per se.”

“That was a very Gryffindor take from you,” you shot back. He chuckled, apologizing for the way it had come out.  

“No, you’re right. The more I saw you grow, the more I realized that I really was obscured by the prejudice of my peers. Not my proudest moments I have to say.” He glanced down to look at you. “I do hope you’re setting an example for the other Slytherins whenever you do kind acts like these — Neville, for example. Merlin knows a Slytherin from my year would have jinxed them if given the chance.”

You snorted, disbelieving what he claimed. Sure some Slytherins are given a bad rep, but not every student from there was evil. Snobby, classist, purist? Yeah, there were the bad apples of your house, but you were aware of the other houses’ as well. Then you remembered just how violent the first wizarding had been… perhaps your father wasn’t exaggerating much after all. 

“For some, house rivalries are their number one priority,” he finished explaining. There was an odd shimmer of remembrance, but he blinked it away. Remus scratched the back of his head. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m proud of you.”

You smiled at him, your eyes watering just a bit as you let his words sink in. You were about to respond with something else when your ears perked up. As the two of you walked further down the corridor, you heard two voices discussing. The hushed voices both snapped at each other and that was enough for your dad to decide to intervene. Walking further down, two scents made themselves apparent: two familiar scents, then two sets of jet black hair. 

It seemed as if your father had also picked up on it; his attention was now fixed on the two bickering persons. A hilarious image came to mind: your father in his wolf form, his ears perked up in interest and eyes filled with mischief. You swear, sometimes he was more childish than you were. 

“Professor,” your dad said, a hint of amusement evident in his voice. 

Snape turned around, his lit wand pointed at your dad. “Well, well… Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?”

Although your dad was standing in front of you, you could practically see him roll his eyes at Snape’s comment. You couldn’t help but chuckle and that’s when the other two noticed your presence. Snape rose an eyebrow, curious about why you were wondering the castle late at night, he was the head of your house anyway. His disciplinary look died, however, when he realized that you were accompanied by your dad. Instead, a look of mild disgust etched his features as his eyes fell upon the Defense teacher. 

“Harry, you alright?” Your dad asked as he approached the boy.

But Snape was still persistent and took whatever was in Harry’s possession before he could respond. As soon as Snape snatched the parchment from his hands, you realized what the two had been arguing about moments prior. 

The map.

You tensed at that very moment. 

“I have now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. Potter.” He handed your dad the parchment. “Take a look, Lupin — Supposed to be your area of expertise, clearly it’s full of dark magic.”

You couldn’t help but stifle a laugh that nearly escaped your lips. Your worry eased, only by a little. Oh, it was far from dark, you thought. Surprised by your father’s giddy, he snorted as he looked over the seemingly empty parchment. You took this opportunity to steal a glance at Harry, who was looking quite nervous. Who could blame him? 

Remus was in the middle of explaining to Snape that the spare bit of parchment was most likely a joke product from Zonko’s. Harry then nodded his head and explained that Ron had gifted it to him the last time his friends had gone. Snape was still rather skeptical but said nothing as your dad held on to it. 

“Trade-off!” you said as the tension began to brew. “Dad, you should probably take Harry back to his dorm. We did just come back from there after all. Professor Snape, why don’t you escort me back to the dungeons? There is, as we have noticed, a maniac on the loose.”

Your dad nodded and waved Harry over to him, the startled teen non-verbally thanked you as he walked passed Snape. Remus placed a careful kiss on the top of your head before bidding the two of you goodnight. Snape on the other hand seemed sour and only spared an annoyed glance in your direction before signalling you to follow him back to your dormitory.